The favorite school subject of Stephen Shorts and Alphonso Onunwor isn’t chemistry.
But it might as well be.
Chemistry might be the only way to describe the highlight-reel performances put on display by Brush’s quarterback-receiver tandem this year.
Brush (5-3, 3-0) heads into Friday’s game at Cuyahoga Falls in the driver’s seat of the Northeast Ohio Conference’s Lake Division. The Arcs also control their destiny in the Division II, Region 3 playoff picture, in which they are seventh.
The play of quarterback Shorts and receiver Onunwor are a big reason why.
Shorts has thrown for 1,281 yards and 15 touchdowns this season. His 6-foot-3 teammate Onunwor — whose given name Ugochukwu means “Eagle of God” — has caught 39 of Shorts’ 75 completions for 713 yards and 11 touchdowns.
In other words, numbers that can only be credited to natural chemistry between the quarterback and receiver.
“When it gets close, we’ll give each other that look,” Shorts said of the on-field eye contact with Onunwor. “I know what he’s thinking, and he knows what I’m thinking. He just runs the route and I throw it.
“It takes a while to develop that.”
As in at least eight years, which dates to the youth football days when Shorts and Onunwor were a quarterback-running back tandem with the South Euclid Gators.
Years after Shorts and Onunwor dazzled with handoffs and running plays, the pair are dazzling through the air.
“Oh, I kept it,” Shorts said with a laugh of the option-style offense, which added current Brush senior Davari Gill at fullback when they got to junior high. “They said I kept the ball.”
“Yeah, a lot,” Onunwor said, cutting off his classmate, then laughing hysterically.
The good-natured ribbing continues years later.
Back then, Onunwor returned to the huddle and pointed out how open his running lanes were, had Shorts pitched or handed it to him. He’s doing the same now when he returns from pass routes — in jest.
“Every receiver thinks they’re open all the time, though,” Onunwor admitted.
Even if he isn’t, Onunwor makes plays. He is averaging 18.2 yards per catch, and it’s not like he’s open all the time.
That’s where chemistry comes into play. With a simple glance, both players know what route is to be run, and Shorts knows where to put the ball.
When in doubt, go with the fade route, they both said, almost in unison.
“I know he’ll go up and get it for me,” Shorts said. “He hasn’t failed me yet, so we’re going to keep doing it.”
The Shorts-Onunwor tandem doesn’t just produce points. It also produces opportunities for people such as running backs Darryl McCluney and Gill and fellow receiver Jordan Overton.
“Teams will try to put a safety over top a corner, or even a safety over a safety,” Coach Josh Wells said of defenses designed to contain Onunwor. “It opens a lot of things for other players.”
With Shorts and Onunwor forging the path, Brush has scored at least 22 points in every game this season. The Arcs have scored 30 or more in six of the eight games and 40 or more three times.
The prolific offense, coupled with a defense that has shut out three opponents this year, has the team thinking big.
If Brush defeats Cuyahoga Falls and Parma in the next two weeks, it will have a second straight undefeated league title. Two victories would almost certainly put the Arcs in the playoffs, too, with an outside shot at hosting a game in the first week.
But no one is getting ahead of themselves around Korb Field, home of the Arcs.
“The only thing that matters right now is Cuyahoga Falls,” Shorts said. “Nothing else.”
Added Onunwor, nodding in affirmation, “We’re trying to bring the city out and give 110 percent for them.”
If everything goes the way they want it, Brush will have their conference title and a trip to the playoffs.
Shorts and Onunwor will have one last moment of glory in the sun, one that started in youth football. And everyone will have memories to last a lifetime.
“I’m definitely going to miss this,” Onunwor said. “I’m so used to seeing Steve back there, and I’m used to the Brush Arc atmosphere.
“Coach always tells us (on game nights) to smell the popcorn, smell the pizza, because one of these games is going to be the last one.”
Signifying the end of a decade-long chemistry class that Shorts and Onunwor — not to mention the Brush fan base — have enjoyed.